At the conclusion of 41 games, USA Ink Daddyz defeated the
national team from Great Britain, 18-3 to claim the Gold Medal. USA
Fort Walton Beach claimed Bronze.

“This event definitely underlines the growing value,
visibility and the passion softball athletes around the world have
for representing their countries on the international stage,”
said WBSC co-President Don Porter.

This marked the first time that Bulgaria, Curacao, France, and
Turks and Caicos have participated in the Co-Ed Slow Pitch Softball
World Cup. Team VPD from Canada, who played in the 2013 World Fire
and Police Games in Belfast, Northern Ireland, rounded out the
field of teams.

“This mixed World Cup reinforces the power of sport to
encourage and inspire gender equity, teamwork, cooperation, mutual
respect, friendship, education and social change—and I am
particularly proud that softball is being used as such a vehicle
across both genders and across all ages in a growing number of
countries,” Porter remarked.

In terms of global participation, slow pitch softball is one of
the most popular disciplines among baseball/softball, as many
athletes eventually migrate from other baseball/softball
disciplines to slow pitch, with an estimated 40 million athletes
participating, either recreationally or in organised competition,
in over 140 countries, according to WBSC’s latest
figures.

The successful delivery and athlete-experience of the 2014 Co-Ed
Slow Pitch Softball World Cup, in addition to the accessibility and
ease for new athletes to learn and be introduced to a discipline
such as slow pitch softball, has boosted the event’s future
prospects.

The positive outcome in Plant City and the growing international
interest from both National Federations and clubs has led to the
affirmative decision that the event will be organised and
celebrated annually.

Men’s Softball Tournament of Champions (TOCs) in six age
categories attracted over eighty teams and 1,600 athletes over the
age of 50. The TOCs were organised alongside the main event in
Plant City.

“As we have seen here by the performance of over 1,600
‘golden-aged’ athletes, softball -- especially the slow
pitch discipline -- is a very viable and attractive option to
promote and sustain health, well-being, physical activity and
social interaction, as well as to inspire future generations, well
into our senior years,” expressed Porter.